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25th Congress, [ SENATE. ] [ 46(j ] 

2d Session. 



IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



June 5, 1838. 

Subrnitteil, and ordered to be printed. 



Mr. White submitted the followinof 



i (W.^, SV«1. . REPORT 



The Committee on Indian Affairs^ to whom were rtf erred the inessage of 
the President of the United Slates, dated 2lst of May last, loith the 
documents which accompanied it, and the report of the Svcretary of 
War of the 2ith of the sajne month, on. the subject of an a pprgpriaMQu 
for the benefit of the Cherokee Indians, have had the same under con- 
sideration, and respectfully submit the following report : 

By the treaty between the United States and those Indians, dated in 
December, 1835, they stipulated to remove from the country now occupied 
by them, within the States of North Carohna, Georgia, Tennessee, and 
Alabama, and to settle in the country given them in exchange, situate west 
of the Mississippi, within two years after the ratification of said treaty, [t 
was ratified on the 23d day of May, 1836 ; tliose two years, therefore, 
elapsed on the 23d day of May last. 

Each of the States above named have acted on the supposition that 
the terms of this treaty would be complied with. Georgia has already 
granted to individual citizens the lands occupied within her limits by those 
Indians ; the Legislatures, both of North Carolina and Tennessee, have 
passed laws for the sale of such portions as lie within their respective 
limits. The operations of the laws of any of these States can only be sus- 
pended by the Legislature thereof In some of them, the ordinary time for 
the meeting of the Legislature, is the next autumn or winter, and in Ten- 
nessee, not until the first Monday in October, 1839. Although the respec- 
tive Governors have the power to convene the Legislatures on extraordinary 
occasions, yet such calls being always attended with considerable expense 
to the States, and much personal inconvenience to the members, it is not 
very probable that all, if any, of the Governors of those States would be 
willing to exercise this branch of their constitutional power, merely for the 
purpose of enlarging the time for the contemplated removal ; and if they 
did, considerable time must elapse before any satisfactory modification of 
their laws could be made, should the Legislatures be disposed to modify 
them, which is, to say the least of it, very doubtful. 

Under all these circumstances, the committee believe it would be very 
impolitic in the Federal Government to encourage an expectation on the part 
Bl air & Rives, printers. 



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[466] 2 '^SUfl 

of the Indians that any extension of time for their removal can or will be 
agreed to by any of the States. On the contrary, they behove the Chero- 
kees ought to be distinctly and candidly informed tliat as speedy a removal 
as circumstances will permit is the only snre mode of avoiding those col- 
lisions between them and the whites, which must endanger the peace of 
the country, and add to the discontents which have heretofore prevailed. 

By the treaty before referred to. the sum of six hundred thousand dol- 
lars was npree'd to lie paid by the United States, for the purpose of indem- 
nifying those who had been injured by depredations committed by citizens 
of the United States, and for the purpose of enabling the Indians to remove 
to their new homes. How this tund has been disposed of, or whether any 
and what part of it yet remains to be expended, the committee do not 
know. 

They believe the five millions of dollars given by the treaty as the dif- 
ference ]n value between the countries exchanged, and the six himdred 
thonsand dollars before mentioned, allowed for spoliations, and as a fund 
for removal, constitute a very liberal consideration on the part of the Fede- 
ral Government ; yet the committee v/ou'd feel nuich better satisfied that 
too much should be done for the Cherokees tlian too little. If, therefore, 
the voluntary grant of an additional sum of money can be m.ade a means 
oniasieniiig their removal to their new homes, of dispensing with the use 
of a large military force, and of insuring confidence in the justice of the 
Government, and of restoring harmony and good feelings, they believe 
economy, humanity, and peace will be best consulted by making such 
grant. 

"With a view to attain these objects, the committee would respectfully 
recommend to tiie Senate that, in the passing of some appropriation bill 
still to be acted on, an item be inserted placing a reasonable sum of money 
at the disposal of the Executive. 

In relation to what the Secretary of War states in his communication 
to the Cherokee delegation, on the subject of the annuities due under the 
treaty of 1819, the committee would take the liberty of remarking, that 
the treaty of \'6'i'o commules the old annuity of ten thousand dollars, and 
provides that t!ie profits of the sum for which it was commuted, for the 
then next two years, le laid out in provisions for the benefit of a certain 
class of the Cherokees. How far this stipulation has been complied with, 
the connniltee do not know. They believe the necessary fund was appro- 
priated by Congress. If it has been properly expended, the annuities have 
been paid ; if it has not, the money ought still to be on hand, and they do 
not, at present, see the propriety of any new appropriation for that object. 

With regard to the njanner in which the Indians shall be removed, the 
committee believe that must be left, in a great degree, under the control 
of the Executive Department ; but they would fail in the discharge of 
their duty, if they did not most earnestly recommend, both fis a measure 
of economy and humanity, that the Indians be accompanied by such an 
escort as will secure the whites, through whose country they may pass, 
from all depredations, and at the same time secure the Indians from all 
ill usage from any quarter whatever. 



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